Southern Political Report has this story about Ray Boyd, who says he will be an independent candidate for Governor of Georgia this year. The article is by Gary Reese. Georgia has not had an independent candidate for Governor on the ballot since 1942. Before 1943, Georgia let any independent or minor party candidate get on the general election ballot with no petition, but Georgia has had extremely burdensome petition requirements for independents and minor parties ever since 1943.
Separate is NOT equal — even in GA.
Brown v. Bd of Ed 1954
Equal nominating petitions.
P.R. and A.V. — NO primaries are needed.
Gov. Ellis Arnall, who was elected in 1942, is often praised for lowering Georgia’s voting age to 18 in 1944. But I’m assuming that he also supported the tough petition requirements for independents and minor parties.
Georgia, of course, was a one-party state back then, and the ruling Democrats apparently did not want any non-Democratic competition.
The late Sen. Herman Talmadge had some interesting things to say in his autobiography about Arnall, especially about his attempt to hold onto the governorship following the 1946 election.
Arnall tried a comeback for governor in 1966 and lost the Democratic primary to Lester Maddox. A write-in campaign for Arnall prevented the Republican Bo Callaway from getting a majority, and the heavily-Democratic state House elected Maddox.
Which is why Georgia is today the only state that has party primaries AND runoff general elections.
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